For thinking, it matters where it takes place. Not everything is conceivable everywhere. Europe's culture emerged along the shores of the Mediterranean. The European idea of humanity is also one of the significant effects that the sea has exerted on consciousness since ancient times. This consequential relationship for our intellectual history is the focus of the new book by Andreas Steffens. It gathers traces of the fascination with the sea from antiquity to the present, outlining an anthropology of the sea. Humanity's existence on Earth is more closely tied to the oceans than the obviousness of existing only on land might suggest. Those who expose themselves to the sea can expect one of the last adventures: an encounter with themselves. The sea not only makes one feel who they are but also what they are. The sea is a strangeness to which we entrust ourselves, even though we fear it.